Dead or Alive
by Morning Twilight
Summary: It's been exactly 6 long years since Harry's disappearence. Voldemort's been dead for a while, and Harry has finally returned. Why didn't Harry return sooner? Is a new evil about to rise from the ashes? *Ch. 4 now up!!*
1. The photograph

  
He's been gone for exactly 6 years now. It was this day in November, 6 years ago, that my best friend left us.   
  
||**Flashback**||  
  
"Hey, Ron?" Harry said. "I'm gonna go get some fresh air."  
  
"Fine. But take your cloak; it's cold outside tonight." Ron warned him.  
  
"Don't worry about me, Ron. Goodbye." Harry said. "Tell Hermione I said bye to her too."  
  
"Why? You'll only be gone a few minutes." Ron said.  
  
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Harry told him. "But tell her anyway."  
  
||**End Flashback**||  
  
I should have known something was wrong. Especially when I thought I saw a tear in his eye as he turned and left. That was back in our sixth year. Graduating from Hogwarts without my best friend in seventh year was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. On graduation night, word from the Ministry came that said Lord Voldemort was dead. That was the only good thing about seventh year. It meant that Harry was still alive, for whom else could be powerful enough to defeat Voldemort?  
  
Every day, I hope and pray that Harry will show up, acting like he never left. But every day, a little bit of that hope dies away. Now it's more wishful thinking than actually believing that he could show up.  
  
Hermione has more faith than I do. She's hired investigators and tried every spell she could think of to try and locate him. Nothing worked, but she still believes Harry could show up any day now.  
  
Nearly every day, a newspaper or magazine publishes an article proclaiming that someone has seen Harry. I've quit reading them all together now. I don't want to build my hope, only to have it shattered.   
  
But, wait. What's this? Sure, it's another article of someone claiming to have seen Harry, but this one has a photograph. You can see the brilliant green of his eyes and the lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead. You can also see a muggle with a newspaper that says the date: November 8. That means the picture was taken 2 days ago. At a building that I recognize.  
  
I look at the picture more closely. Harry is wearing a uniform with a name on it: Jerald Whinterston. So he's using an alias, huh? That must mean he doesn't want to be discovered. Fat chance! Tomorrow I'm going down to that building and finding my friend!  
  
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A/N: Please R/R! I'm very proud of this! In the next chapter, Ron goes down to Harry's place of work. Why didn't Harry comeback after Voldemort's downfall? What is he hiding? Find out in Chapter 2: Explanations.  
  
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with, or endorsed by, the author or publisher and gain nothing from writing this story, except self-satisfaction. I only own the plot.  
  
  
  
  



	2. Explanations, sort of

A/N: Here's the long-awaited chapter 2! My apologies to everyone for making you wait so long for me to post it! Thanks to everyone who reviewed!  
  
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CHAPTER 2: EXPLANATIONS, SORT OF . . .  
  
  
Ron woke up early the next morning, hoping to catch Harry before he went into his place of work. (After searching through his memory for a while, Ron remembered it was a state-of-the-art computer manufacturing plant.) By a quarter past seven, Ron was already out the door. He headed to Hermione's house, to pick her up. Ron didn't have the nerve to confront Harry by himself, and he had a feeling that Hermione would be pretty angry if they had a reunion without her, so he called her last night.   
  
When he got to Hermione's house, she was already on her front porch, waiting for him impatiently.  
  
"What took you so long!" Hermione said indignantly. "Harry's probably already been there for an hour!"  
  
"Hermione! Not everyone wakes up at 5am just so they can go to a place they don't even really want to be." Ron told her.  
  
They drove down many streets and finally arrived at the plant. The sign by the main doors read: KILOBYTES, Manufacturing Plant.  
  
"Strange, isn't it," Hermione commented.  
  
"What's strange?" Ron asked.  
  
"It's strange that Harry would pick a profession that seems to fit him the least. Harry never liked computers."  
  
"Don't you see, Hermione? Harry doesn't want to be found. He's working somewhere that no one would think of looking for him." Ron told her.  
  
"But still . . . You'd think he'd pick something he'd be even remotely interested in . . ." Hermione's thoughts drifted.  
  
Ron parked the car and the two got out and went into the lobby of the building. A young secretary was sitting at a desk nearby. Ron went to her and asked quite awkwardly, "Has Ha-er- . . .Jerald Whinterston come in yet?"  
  
The secretary smiled at him, typed something very quickly on her computer and replied, "Well, yes, and no."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron asked her.  
  
"Well, he was here, but he left a little while ago saying something about pigs and warts. I think he also called me dumb. Didn't make much sense, but he seemed quite distraught." The secretary told him.  
  
"Did he say where he was going?" Ron asked the secretary urgently.  
  
"Like I said before, he wasn't making much sense. But I did hear him say he was going somewhere, oh what was it, something about owls, and eyes-"  
  
"Thanks! That's all I needed!" Ron exclaimed as he ran out the door, pulling Hermione with him, leaving the secretary looking very confused.  
  
"He went to Eeylop's Owl Emporium!" Ron told Hermione. "I think he's going to owl Dumbledore! If we hurry, I think we'll be able to catch him; Eeylop's is usually pretty crowded!"  
  
The two took off at a run to the car. Ron started it as quickly as he could, and sped down the street towards The Leaky Cauldron.   
  
"Hurry Ron! Faster!" Hermione exclaimed. "Ooh! Here! Let me!"  
  
"Switcher Autopasserous!" Hermione said. The next thing Ron knew, he and Hermione had switched places. Hermione muttered something else, and now they were going about 90m.p.h, and they seemed to be going right through the other cars.  
  
"Where do you find these spells?" Ron asked curiously.  
  
"Don't you read?" was Hermione's reply.  
  
At the speed the car was going, Ron and Hermione reached the old pub known as The Leaky Cauldron in no time. They ran through the building, not looking where they were going, and ran right into someone in a hooded cloak. The man tumbled to the floor and his hood came down, revealing his face.  
  
"HARRY!" Hermione gasped. Ron just stood where he was, not believe his eyes. Harry looked around in horror and saw Ron and Hermione.  
  
"Oh, God, Ron! Hermione! Help me!" Harry gulped. A look of pain crossed his face, then his expression went blank, like he couldn't recognize where or who he was any more. "Terribly sorry about that," Harry said in a strange voice. "Jerald Whinterston. And you are-?" As he spoke, Harry's face changed so that it looked quite different from how it should.  
  
"Harry! Harry, what are you talking about?" Hermione shrieked. "You're Harry Potter! Not Jerald Whinterston!" Hermione looked almost crazy. People were looking at them strangely. They hadn't seen when he looked like Harry; they only saw a stranger. Harry was looking behind him to see whom Hermione was talking to.  
  
Ron grabbed Harry/Jerald and pulled him into Diagon Alley. They made their way down the crowded street towards a shop called "Weasley Wizard Wheezes".   
  
"Oi! Ron!" called Fred from behind the sales counter of the very large shop. "What do you think you're doing? Let that man go!"  
  
"No!" Ron yelled as Fred advanced on him. George heard the noise and came out of the back room.   
  
"What's going on out here?" he asked curiously.  
  
"Listen to me. I know this is going to sound crazy, but this man is Harry!"  
  
"He's lost it," Fred said to George.  
  
"No, it's true!" Hermione said. "I saw his face!"  
  
"I can see his face too, and that's not Harry. You've both lost it." Said George.  
  
"Not this face! This is a disguise! Harry's under some kind of spell. He can't control anything he does, and somehow his face was altered. The spell wore off long enough for Harry to send an owl to Dumbledore explaining this whole thing, hopefully. That's when we saw him in his true form; as Harry." Hermione explained.   
  
"Are you sure?" Fred asked.  
  
"Positive. We just need to keep him hear long enough for Dumbledore to figure out where we are." Hermione told them.   
  
At that moment, Dumbledore came into the shop quite quickly. A man they all recognized as Mad-eye Moody was following him. (A/N: This is the real Moody, not the person who stole his identity in the fourth book, so he does not know any of them.) He stopped abruptly when he saw Harry in his new form. Harry was watching them all curiously.  
  
"Oh, my!" said Moody. "Harry Potter!"  
  
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A/N: How did you like it? For all you people reading that are not die-hard Harry Potter fans, Moody has a fake magical eye which can see things other people can't. The next chapter should be out very soon. I'm finally getting into the story. We will get more into what Hermione and Ron do for a living nowadays and what the heck is happening with Harry.  
  
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the author of the Harry Potter books and claim no credit for characters or places mentioned in this story. I only own the plot. 


	3. The Return

A/N: It hasn't been very long since I posted the last chapter, but I'm really getting into the story! Expect me to start posting regularly now, or at least until I get writer's block again. (Which tends to happen to me a lot.) I decided to post the next two chapters at the same time.  
  
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CHAPTER 3: The Return  
  
"Oh my!" said Moody. "Harry Potter!" Harry looked around the room and seemed very confused as to where this Harry Potter was. Dumbledore moved closer to Harry and stared into his eyes.  
  
"Ecnar trouy fotu o' emoc, ecnar trouy fotu o' emoc, ecnar trouy fotu o' emoc," Dumbledore muttered. Everyone watched with interest. Harry's face slowly began to reshape itself as Dumbledore continued muttering. Slowly but surly, Harry was regaining control of his movements, but it just wasn't enough to bring him back fully. Harry looked exactly as he should, but his face quickly snapped back to that of Jerald Whinterston after a brief look of pain flickered.  
  
"It's just as I feared," Dumbledore said sadly. "Someone's controlling Harry. They can manipulate him to do or look however they want. It's called the Etal Upinam curse."  
  
"But who would do that, Professor?" Hermione asked. "Voldemort's gone; Harry killed him."  
  
"Please, Hermione. Call me Albus; I'm not your professor anymore. And I don't know who would do this." Dumbledore said.  
  
"Er-Albus- what if we all said . . . whatever it was that you were saying before at the same time? Would it have more effect?" Hermione asked.  
  
"I hope so. Let's try it," Dumbledore suggested. "First of all, think of a happy memory you have of Harry. Now, repeat after me: Ecnar trouy fotu o' emoc."  
  
"Ecnar"  
  
"Ecnar" they all said.  
  
"Trouy"  
  
"Trouy!"  
  
"Fotu"  
  
"Fotu!"  
  
"O'"  
  
"O'!"   
  
"Emoc"  
  
"Emoc!"  
  
"All together now!" Dumbledore shouted.  
  
"Ecnar! Trouy! Fotu! O'! Emoc!" They all shouted.  
  
"Louder and with more enthusiasm!" Dumbledore told them.  
  
"ECNAR! TROUY! FOTU! O'! EMOC! ECNAR! TROUY! FOTU! O'! EMOC!" They all yelled very loudly. Harry's face began to change again, but this time, it stayed as it should. It was working! Harry looked around and a smile spread across his face. That was probably the last thing any of them expected to see. When it seemed as if Harry was finally back to normal, they stopped chanting.  
  
Tears were coming down everyone's face. "Thank you-thank you all so much!" Harry managed o choke out. "You have no idea what it was like, not being able to control anything you do . . ." Harry trailed off. As if on cue, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all came together in a very emotional hug. They all just stood there, not letting go of anyone else, for fear that it wasn't really happening.  
  
"Oh, Harry . . . I missed you so much . . . You have no idea how hard it was for everyone without you." Ron said. Everyone started crying, even Moody who didn't even know Harry shed a few tears. The three let go and Harry went over to Dumbledore. They embraced as if Dumbledore were Harry's grandfather.  
  
Neither of them could think of anything to say, but each had a look of admiration in their eyes. Harry moved on to Fred and George.  
  
"Hey, my favorite beaters!" Harry exclaimed.  
  
"Aw, come 'ere!" Fred said. Harry hugged both him and George.  
  
"So I see that money's come in handy," Harry whispered to them.  
  
"Yeah, thanks a lot for that, Harry. It's good to have you back." George said.  
  
"Sorry to break up this little reunion," said Moody, "but we seem to be attracting quite a lot of attention." He pointed towards the window at the front of the shop, where quite a large crowd was attracting. They were all pointing at Harry with looks of disbelief on their faces. "I do believe that all of that shouting drew them here."  
  
Dumbledore went out the door to explain things to the crowd, which was beginning to turn into a mob trying to break down the door.  
  
"As most of you have noticed, a young man whom you recognize is standing in that shop. Everything will be explained in the Daily Prophet on Friday. Until then, please be patient. Do not mention this to anyone, and go about your normal lives. Oh, and if anyone here is from the graduating class of Hogwarts from between years 1990 and 2000, please stay for just a few moments longer." Dumbledore said. Most of the crowd dispersed, whispering amongst themselves, but a few remained. They were looking around excitedly.  
  
"If at all possible, please get to Hogwarts as soon as you can. Please tell anyone else you know from Hogwarts to do the same. That is all." Dumbledore turned and walked back into the shop and performed a spell that blacked out the windows, leaving the people outside feeling very peculiar indeed.  
  
"Harry," Dumbledore started, "I wonder if you could tell us who did this to you."  
  
"I would, but I don't know."  
  
"When did the person first begin controlling you?" Dumbledore asked.  
  
"I'm not exactly sure." Harry turned to Ron. "That day I left, That's the first time I started being controlled. I could still kind of control myself, but not much. I could manage to say goodbye to you, but I couldn't tell you what was happening. It was like the person was in my mind was filtering what I was saying."  
  
"Harry, would you mind if we went to the castle and you explained everything there? It would be a great deal of help for me, seeing as it is still the school year, and I have students I must watch over." Dumbledore said.  
  
"That's no problem."  
  
"Would it be too much trouble if we came?" Fred and George asked. "We could close the shop for the day."  
  
"Of course you may. Ron and Hermione may come as well. Can everyone here apparate?" Dumbledore asked. Everyone nodded.  
  
"Before I defeated Voldemort, the person controlling me taught me how." Harry said when he saw everyone's astonished faces.  
  
"Okay, let's go." There were seven small pops and the room was now empty. 


	4. A New Evil

Chapter 4: A new evil  
  
Professor McGonagall paced nervously in Dumbledore's office, wondering what the urgent owl was that could make him desert his students. Suddenly, there were a series of small pops, and the room was filled with people. Professor McGonagall looked around. It was like reliving past years. There was Fred and George Weasley, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Mad-Eye Moody, Dumbledore of course, and . . .  
  
"HARRY POTTER!" Professor McGonagall shrieked.   
  
"Calm yourself, Minerva," Dumbledore said. "I shall need to be left alone in my office for a while. I need to sort out a few things. It shall do you good not to mention this to anyone."  
  
"Yes, of course," McGonagall said, sounding quite flustered.  
  
"Oh, and one more thing. Expect quite a few former students to be arriving throughout the day. Please set up arrangements for them and tell them everything will be explained this evening." Dumbledore old her.  
  
The professor slowly walked out of the room and shut the door behind her, looking dazed.  
  
"Now, please continue with your story," Dumbledore told Harry. "The rest of you may sit anywhere you wish."  
  
"Where should I start?" Harry asked.  
  
"I suggest you always start at the beginning,"  
  
"But-"  
  
"which in this case would be right after you left Hogwarts."  
  
"Okay. Well, I had no idea where I was going. The farther away I got, the less and less I could control myself. Of course I suspected Voldemort was behind it, but when I ended up in the same cemetery as in fourth year, after a week of travel, I was certain. I thought he had beckoned me there to finally kill me. But then I realized he could have made me kill myself anytime he wished. I was beginning to become confused. I looked around, or rather was forced to, and I saw him, Voldemort, standing near a large tombstone. He hadn't noticed me at all. I snuck up behind him, and still he didn't even turn his head to acknowledge my presence. In my mind, I was saying 'Run away while you still can!' but my feet wouldn't budge. I was scared out of my wits. I took another step nearer to him, and a twig snapped. Immediately, I felt the person leave my mind, but Voldemort heard me."  
  
"Oh no!" Hermione said.  
  
"Please don't interrupt Harry. I'm sure it's hard enough for him to relive this experience. In case you're wondering, when someone uses the Etal Upinam curse, if the person that they are controlling is killed, they themselves are killed as well. Please continue, Harry." Dumbledore said.  
  
"Well, Voldemort turned around and saw me. 'You!' he screamed in rage. He must not have had his wand on him for some strange reason, but he did not run. He didn't look the least bit afraid. I pulled my wand out, preparing for him to lunge at me, but he didn't. He started tracing the shape of the dark mark in the air with his finger, and suddenly, we were surrounded by death-eaters. They all had their wands out; ready to attack at any move I made. I saw one of them was different somehow. I knew at once that it was Snape, and he was going to help me. I looked around and realized that a select few held themselves differently. I don't know how, but I knew they were going to help me fight." Harry paused here. A strange expression came over his face.  
  
Then he said in a raspy voice not his own, "I am not as gone as you might like to think!"  
  
"Wh-who are you?" Ron asked.  
  
"Who do you think? No, I am not Lord Voldemort. That fool was too weak to kill but a small boy! I come from an ancient generation of evil! I have not been seen in four hundred years. This is not the last of me! It is only the beginning!" Harry returned to his normal look, though he was panicked.   
  
"What was that!?" He screamed.   
  
"Calm down, Harry, everything is fine for now. You will continue your story at a later time. Right now, I have research to do." Dumbledore said. "If that happens again, use this." Dumbledore tossed Hermione a tape recorder. "I've modified it so it will work in Hogwarts. I'm afraid to say that a new evil may be rising."  
  
Everyone gasped. "Who-" started Moody.  
  
"I am not clear on who this is, but I suspect it was the same person who was controlling Harry before." Dumbledore said. Now, I will set beds up for you all in the fourth room on the left down the second floor in the east wing. Please try to get some sleep."  
  
Everyone filed out of the room, except Moody, who was going to help Dumbledore.  
  
"Harry, I want to make a quick stop before we go to bed," Hermione said. Harry looked at her quizzically. "Just follow me."  
  
Hermione led them down many corridors, until they finally stopped in front of a door. Hermione knocked.  
  
"Who is it?" asked a weary voice. Hermione motioned for them all to be quiet, but to follow her into the room. They did.  
  
The room was dark, except for a lamp on a desk. There was a man siting at the desk, but his face was hidden in shadow. "Show yourselves!" he warned.   
  
"You first," Harry said.  
  
"Are you-" Harry stepped into the light, and so did the man.  
  
"Harry! It couldn't be!" Sirius Black exclaimed in delight and udder disbelief.  
  
"Sirius! What are you doing at Hogwarts?"  
  
"I could ask you the same question," Sirius pointed out. He hugged his godson, and a few tears trickled down his face, but he wiped them quickly.  
  
"We have to go now, but I promise we'll catch up in the morning." Harry said. "Something big is going to happen, Sirius. I don't know what, but a new evil is rising. Hopefully, Dumbledore will have more information in the morning."  
  
"I knew it; I could feel it in the air," Sirius said. "About ten minutes ago, I could feel evil in the air. I think I better go talk to Dumbledore. I'll see you in the morning, Harry." Sirius hugged his godson again and strolled off towards Dumbledore's office.  
  
"We better get going," George said. "I think dinner should be ending any minute." The five of them walked quickly to their sleeping quarters. All of them fell asleep quickly, even Harry. A lot of energy had been taken from him.  
  
Harry whispered a few words before he fell asleep, "I'm back, and I'll never let evil win, never." 


End file.
